Ecological Effects of Fire in South African EcosystemsP. de V. Booysen, N. M. Tainton This is a stimulating tale of the interplay of observation, experimentation, working hypotheses, tentative conclusions, niggling and weightier doubts and great aspirations, on the part of some score of students, on varied ecological and other aspects of the regime and role of fire in relevant biomes and ecosystem- mainly in South Africa - and on other pertinent features of fire ecology. The impressive contents is a tribute to conveners and authors alike. One can expect a profound range and depth ofinvestigation and interpretation, a closeknit fabric of knowledge, delicately interwoven with wisdom, an exposition and quintessence of information. Admipable is the collective vision responsible for selecting appropriate topics: the wide sweeps of the brush picturing the nature of the biomes; ably describing the fire regimes - whether in grassland, savanna, fynbos or forest; skillfully defining the effects of such regimes - according to ecosystem - upon aerial and edaphic factors of the habitat, upon constituent biota, individually, specifically and as a biotic community; elucidating the basic implications in the structure and dynamics of the plant aspect of that community ... and unravelling to some degree the tangled knot of the conservation and dissipation of moisture and nutrients. Moreover, gratitude is owed for efforts exerted to understand the interplay of fire and faunal behaviour and dynamics as well as composition, together with the principle of adaptive responses of organisms of diverse kinds. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION 20 | 20 |
CURRENT FIRE REGIMES AND THEIR POST SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENTS | 29 |
Chapter 1 | 34 |
Copyright | |
19 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Ecological Effects of Fire in South African Ecosystems P. de V. Booysen,N. M. Tainton Limited preview - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
animals annual arid savanna back fires Bigalke biomass biome burnt areas bush canopy catchments Cathedral Peak changes chapter climate defoliation density dominated Drakensberg eastern Cape ecology ecosystem effects of fire factors favour fire behaviour Fire Ecology fire frequency fire intensity fire regime flowering forage forest Forestry francolins fuel load fynbos Gandar germination grassland grassveld grazing growth habitats head fires heat energy herbaceous herbivores humid increase intense fires Jonkershoek karoo kg ha-1 Kruger National Park layer Levyns lightning Mentis moisture mountain Natal Drakensberg nutrient Nylsvley Phillips plants population postfire production Protea rainfall regeneration relatively reported response resprouting Restionaceae savanna seed seedlings senescent shrubland shrubs soil surface soil temperatures South Africa southern Africa southern Cape species spring burning streamflow summer survive Tainton Themeda triandra tillers trees and shrubs triandra types unburnt vegetation veld burning water yield Widdringtonia winter woody